* FinMin says backs EU-wide solution to bank tax
* Slovaks ready to levy banks in 2012 if EU talks linger
BRATISLAVA, March 21 (Reuters) - Slovakia could introduce a separate bank levy next year if the European Union fails to agree a joint solution how to tax the financial sector, the finance ministry said on Monday. The European Commission is pushing for a one-off 50 billion euro tax on banks, to levy assets, liabilities or profits and raise money for an emergency crisis fund for future crises [ID:nLDE70B0WL].
The finance ministry confirmed on Monday there was a discussion underway about how and when to start processes allowing adoption of such a levy in 2012, adding Slovaks were rather in favour of the European Union-wide solution.
"We are preparing a coordinated bank tax within the European Union. We are decided, as it is not moving forward as it was originally expected, that if there is no major advance, we will introduce the bank tax (separately) next year," Finance Minister Ivan Miklos said in a TV debate on Sunday.
Miklos did not comment on the size of the tax or how much money could be collected thanks to this measure.
Slovaks, who adopted the euro in January 2009, have been shielded from the direct impact of the global financial crisis, partly due to very small holdings of toxic assets and low levels of foreign currency borrowings.
The central European country has not had to bail out any of country's banks, run by Italian, Austrian, Dutch, Belgian or Hungarian parent banks
Miklos, in charge to slash Slovakia's overall fiscal deficit to below the EU's official limit of 3 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) by 2013 from 7.8 percent in 2010, said the 2012 budget already counted on income from such a levy.
(Reporting by Martin Santa; Editing by Ron Askew)